Job Application Automation: Quality over Quantity

Hey Jerry, I could use some help. I am a _______ that has _____ years of experience. I have applied to 600 hundred jobs over the last 3 months. I have heard back from maybe 20 of them to schedule an initial interview. I interviewed with 10 of them, was ghosted by 3 and rejected by 7. What do I do?

This is a very common question I have gotten over the last 6 months, with an increasing number of people using automated job bots to blast their resume around the industry (for a handsome monthly subscription cost).

The purpose of this article is not to admonish one job application tool over another. Quite the opposite actually. The truth is- I see this story as a growing narrative on LinkedIn and want to help with my 5 years of expertise as a headhunter.

Here are a few things I recommend doing if job applications are not working:

Start with your own network and warm introductions

Make your network work for you. If you have been in the professional world for a few years already, chances are you have coworkers that left your current company and have moved into new roles.

Reach out to them ON THE PHONE. Call them! Ask them how they like their current job, what they have learned, and what is exciting to them (One of my favorite questions Vanessa Van Edwards recommends in her "Diary of a CEO" podcast interview). Mention that you are currently on the market for a new job, and ask them if they would recommend you into their current firm. If they aren't hiring- ask them who they report into and to share your resume with their talent pipeline should they start hiring again.

Send the hiring manager a connection request on LinkedIn with a nice note saying "Hi ______, was just catching up with (former coworker) who mentioned how much he loves working at (company). I am a _________ and would love to keep in touch for future opportunities."

If you are a new grad with no coworker connections, the same process can be done for your alumni network.

People hire people, not resumes- and any connection you can make to establish yourself is beneficial in both the near and long term.

Tailor your resume to the company you are applying to without being dishonest

I run into this a lot in this challenge a lot in the technology space, but this spans industry. Let's say you are a data analyst applying to a job on LinkedIn and you notice the firm uses PowerBI and SQL, and you primarily use Tableau and Alteryx.

The LAST thing I want you to do is to lie and say that you have recent experience with the desired tech stack, only for the interviewer to find out you do not use it.

What you can do is include side projects, school projects, or even courses you are taking to improve in these areas.

Focus on making your resume impactful. Most clients I work with would rather see someone who is honest about what they don't know, and a real SME in what they do know. If you are applying to data analyst jobs, the VERY FIRST LINE of your current experience should be about the data YOU analyzed, the tools YOU used, and the impact of YOUR work.

Resumes should read like a recipe. If I am teaching someone who has never made an omelet before how to make an omelet- My resume/recipe shouldn't read "Get eggs out of fridge, crack em, and make an omelet". It should talk about the type of fridge you pulled the eggs from, how you got them to the pan, whether you used one or two hands to break the eggs, how you selected the pan to use, what type of spatula you used to flip the omelet, and how you brought the omelet to the person eating it.

Every company is going to want their omelet made in a different way- but the more in depth you can describe YOUR process- the easier you can align to a job posting.

This is very difficult to do 600 times over successfully- but if you target less companies and focus on quality- you will see a higher success quotient.

Use AI and ChatGPT carefully

ChatGPT is a great tool for building a resume- but it needs to be used the right way.

Here is what I do not want you to do:

Go into ChatGPT and say "Hi ChatGPT, here is my LinkedIn profile- can you build me a resume based on my experience at these companies"... and then copy and paste it into a word document and start firing it off to companies.

Any good TA/Headhunter is going to sniff out a generic resume very quickly and these resumes can tend to be a bit generic.

Here are some solid prompts I find helpful:

"Please check the following resume for spelling, tense, or any grammatical errors and send me back the suggestions for what I need to change"

"Please expand on these bullet points for me to highlight the skill mentioned better"

"Analyze this resume as a hiring manager and give me a list of questions you think I can prepare for"

"The job I am applying to mentions ______ as a core skill- provide me with a core study plan for improving my skills in this area"

There are tons more I am sure, but these are the questions I find most useful.

Make your LinkedIn user viewer friendly (location, profile picture, and work experience)

Your LinkedIn profile is often one of the first impressions aside from a resume that a hiring manager is going to get of you. It is imperative you make a great first impression.

First and foremost, your profile picture should be a professional photo of you smiling. You do not need to spend the money to get a professional headshot taken by any means. Take the time to make people feel warm and like they are getting to know you by having a profile photo that welcomes people in.

Second, if you are applying to jobs in a certain geographic area I would recommend changing your location to that area as well on your profile. If you are applying to jobs in New Jersey and have no desire to work in New York City for example, your profile should not read "New York Metropolitan area". Vice versa, if you are trying to find jobs in NYC and have your location as NJ, switch it!

Last, make your experience easy to follow. Make sure all dates are accurate for dates of employment, include highlights of your role at each company, and include your GPA in school if it was high enough.

In conclusion...

Job searching is hard. It takes patience, grit, and perseverance over a period of time where those skills are probably not the most top of mind.

Job boards, job bots, AI tools and LinkedIn are tools at your disposal. Use all of them, but don't rely on one over the other.

Keep up the hard work- and here is to an amazing 2025.